Mercy for the Fallen (13 page)

It was there that we found the room’s sole occupants.  A small child, maybe five or six years old, sat patiently on the bed facing the wall while she had her hair brushed by the pale slip of a girl of seventeen or eighteen.  To my amazement, I could see right through the teen, she wasn’t solid like the rest of the dead at all.  The child’s dark hair fell nearly to her waist, crackling with static as the ghost-girl – I wasn’t sure what else to call her – continued her ministrations as if neither of them noticed our arrival. 

The ghost-girl was dressed in an old fashioned riding habit with a full skirt and silver buttons on the jacket.  Her golden hair was pulled up into a severe style, but there were a few loose strands at her temples, as if she’d been through some kind of a struggle and hadn’t had time to fix her hair. 

Hot disappointment lanced through me as I’d been expecting to find Eve on the other side of the door.  Could she be hiding under the bed maybe?  Or in the wardrobe tucked into the corner?  The Grace was definitely coming from the room, and I could see the nimbus of golden light coming from the child on the bed.  Had Eve somehow gifted the girl with her Grace?

Adam moved deeper into the room, his eyes focused on the pair on the bed.  I crept closer, trying to get a better look at the child.  I froze as her laughter rang through the chamber when the ghost-girl got too close to her neck.  This girl was older than Eve by a good two years at least.  Taller, less pudgy around the cheeks and arms, but her hair was the same chestnut brown, her eyes the same vibrant blue, and the Grace…

“Evie?”

The little girl looked up, her eyes giving nothing away, regarding us calmly.  She clearly saw us, even though I still kept myself hidden from most eyes.  The ghost-girl’s gaze roved over the room as if she could sense something was different, but couldn’t quite put her finger on it. 

I took a step closer, not quite sure how to proceed in the face of Eve’s silence.  Had so much time passed for her that she didn’t recognize us anymore?  “Bunny, is that you?” I tried again, blinking past the sting of her indifference. 

All at once her face changed, an inner light shining through as she launched herself off the bed.  “Momma!” she cried, throwing her arms around my neck when I crouched to catch her. 

She felt strange in my arms, like a completely different child, but as I held her, the weirdness melted away and the knot of worry started to unclench in my stomach.  I wasn’t about to lose her again, even if I had to shackle us together as we slept. 

“Look at you… you’re so big!”  I pulled back to look at Eve, brushing the hair over her shoulder.  “I don’t understand how she could be this big.” I looked to Adam, who hung back from our reunion.

“Time works differently here, remember?”

“Yes, but she’s only been gone for a few hours!  How long have you been here, Bunny?”

Her expressive face scrunched up the exact same way it had when she was a toddler as she thought it through.  “I don’t know, a long time, I think.  Isobel?  How long have I been here?” she asked the empty room.  The ghost-girl had disappeared.  I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.  “She’s gone again,” Eve reported matter of factly.  “She does that sometimes, but she always returns.  I’m not sure where she goes when she’s gone.”  Eve sounded so polished – where was my marble-mouthed girl? 

“Hey, how about a hug for your favorite uncle?” Adam asked, stretching his arms wide.

“You’re my only Uncle,” she giggled, dropping me like a hot potato to run for his embrace.  Though it made me smile to see him pick her up and swing her around in the air, I couldn’t help but be bummed to think she didn’t remember Matty at all. 

“I hate to break up this love-fest, but I think we should get a move on before her ghost maid tips off the warden of this place,” I suggested.

“Isobel would never do that, she’s my friend,” Eve insisted, but I could tell Adam shared my opinion, as he immediately went to check out the small, blocky windows.

“It’s not always that simple, squirt.  So far so good though, it’s all clear out there.” 

“Are you okay, Evie?  I mean, nothing terrible happened to you down here, did it?”

“Oh no, I’m fine,” she replied, without a trace of hesitation.  “I miss playing outside, but it’s too cold anyways.  And I like playing with Isobel, she’s nicer than the other kids.  She knows the best stories.”

That was comforting, at least.  “Do you have a coat then?  We’d better get a move on.”

“I have a princess cloak.”  Eve ran to a trunk, overflowing with costumes of every imaginable hue.  She pulled out a blue velvet hooded cape, the edges trimmed in spotted white fur.  It was a bit small, but short of dressing her in several layers of clothes, I wasn’t sure what else to try. 

“Here, this might suit.”  Isobel materialized out of thin air, a heavy boy’s coat with big wooden toggles on it clutched in her hands. 

“That’s Justin’s coat.”  Eve’s eyes widened when she saw it.

“It’ll look much better on you.”  The hint of a smile curved Isobel’s lips as she helped her put it on.  The teen was nearly solid now, just a hint of the objects on the other side of her showing through. 

“See, I told you she wouldn’t bring the Keepers,” Eve reported smugly.  “She’s my friend.” 

I offered Isobel a heartfelt smile.  “Thank you for being her friend when we couldn’t be here, but we’d better split while we can.  Is there anything you can tell us about how to avoid the Keepers around here?”

Isobel shook her head.  “There is no avoiding the Keepers, they always come.  They will sense when a soul endeavors to escape and try to stop you.”

“Adam?” I looked to him for guidance.

“We’ll probably have to fight our way through them, yep.”

“And you’re just now mentioning this plan?”

“I told you it’d be dangerous.  This is good though.  You focus on keeping the kid out of harm’s way and this frees me up to take care of business.”  The shining sword appeared in his hand and he gave it an impressive swing.     

“Oh…” Eve’s eyes widened at the sight of the sword, even as Isobel dropped to her knees. 

“I humbly beg forgiveness for my sins,” Isobel cried, clasping her hands together.  “I only ask that you make it quick and end my torment.”

Adam let the sword disappear, his brows drawn together as he studied the girl.  “Honey, you’re the only one who can end this torment, not me.”

“I thought you said the ones that didn’t deserve to be here didn’t wind up here?” I said softly, feeling nothing but pity for the teen on her knees.  There was a soft nimbus of her soul glowing a pale blue with none of the dark splotches and violent reds I’d seen out in the courtyard.  How had she ended up here in the first place?

“They don’t.  She might look sweet and innocent, but there’s got to be a reason why she’s down here.  Even if it’s just in her own mind,” Adam said, his lips returning to a grim line.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means if she thinks she deserves punishment, this is where she’ll stay.  Just like this Casper impression.  This is her interpretation of Hell.  She thinks she should be haunting the battlements in woe, so that’s what she’s doing.”

“She’s sad about the baby,” Eve said in a small voice, placing her hand in mine. 

“What baby?” I blinked.

“It’s too horrible to speak of.”  Isobel’s shoulders bowed under the weight of her sins. 

“How long have you been here, Isobel?” I asked gently.

“Not long enough to wash away the stain of my sin.”

Eve tugged on my hand and I crouched lower to hear her.  “She had a baby growing inside her and she wasn’t supposed to.  She fell off a horse on purpose and died,” she whispered. 

And the poor girl had been beating herself up for it for a century or more by the look of it.  “Adam, we have to do something,” I looked up at him, sure he’d heard every word.

“It’s not our responsibility.  Like I said, this is what she thinks she deserves, so this is where she’ll stay until she’s ready.”

“But we can’t leave her like this.  She took care of Eve the whole time, that has to mean something to you.”

Eve’s face upturned to his.  “Can you help her, Uncle Adam?” 

Adam let out a harsh breath.  “Alright, I’ll see what I can do to help her move on,” he grumbled.  “But then we’re outta here.”  Taking a deep, calming breath, his face lost that pinched look and became serene as he stood before the kneeling teen. 

“Rise child, and hear the word of the Lord.” 

Isobel’s tear-streaked face came up, but she remained on her knees. 

Adam’s voice was soft and coaxing, I’d never heard him speak like this before.  If he’d ever spoken to me like that I would’ve done anything he asked me to and more.  “
God is love and God is forgiveness.  If you have truly repented in your soul, then God will show you mercy.”

“I do not deserve mercy,” she moaned, but there was a touch of hope there as her gaze remained riveted on him. 

Adam spread his wings, drawing a gasp of awe from Eve and stunned silence from Isobel.  “All God’s children deserve mercy when they accept Him in their hearts.  Embrace His love and you will find salvation.”

“Truly?” Hope teetered there. 

“Truly.”  Adam smiled, and he was so beautiful in that moment, it made my heart ache.  “I see no stain of malice in your heart.  Come and accept God’s love.”  He stretched his hand out to her and Isobel placed trembling fingers there.  Enfolding her into his embrace, his Grace flared around them in a pulse of warm golden light, and then she faded from sight.

“She’s gone now,” Eve said, her voice small in the silent room.

“She deserved to move on,” I replied, giving her hand a squeeze.  “She was here for a long, long time.”

“Where did she go?”

“To a better place,” Adam said, sounding subdued.   

“That time you went to Hell to see Luci… Luce when Nathaniel took Bunny… How long were you down here for?”

“Too long.”  His eyes took on a haunted cast.  What had the hell of his choosing looked like?  He shook himself out of it before I could ask anything else about it, though.  “We’d better motor before ol’ scratch gets wind of our jailbreak.”

“Right.”  I grabbed a knit stocking cap off the end of the bed and tugged it over Eve’s head.  Mittens would be better, but Adam was right, time was of the essence. 

“Do you mean the shining man?” Eve asked, bringing me up short. 

“Yes, does he come here very often?”

“No, not since he brought me here.  He told me how to be safe here and to pretend I was a princess in a tower and that one day he’d come to save me.”

Well, that was something.  At least we wouldn’t have to worry about running into Lucifer unless he figured out what we were up to.  “
I still don’t understand why Luce kept her here and not with him?  Wouldn’t he want to keep an eye on her if she’s so important?”

“It’s not about keeping her safe.  It’s about how impatient he is.”

“Then why isn’t he here with her if he was so impatient to take her?”

“He’s up there,” Adam pointed skyward.  “That’s why he didn’t send anything after us when we crossed over into his domain, he can’t sense that we’re here.  He’s up there, waiting for Eve to come of age.  Think about it.  It’s been two years down here and just a few hours on Earth.  He wouldn’t have to wait long at all to pop back down here and claim her for… whatever it is he’s planning.”

“He wants to save me.”

“From what?” I asked, but Evie just shrugged.  “Okay, what’s the plan now? 
How are we supposed to get her out of here?  Is there a magic portal back to Earth somewhere down here?”

“No, we go back the way we came.”

“Are you kidding me?” I gaped.  “We can’t take her back through the sinkhole.”

“It’ll be fine.  You can hold your breath, can’t you, BunBun?”

“For a long time,” she nodded.

“Great, then we should be good to go.  I can carry you both while we fly over the river, but you’ll have to take her from here to the river.  I’ll need my hands free to deal with the Keepers.”

“Okay, I can do that.” I unfurled my wings, giving them a shake before tucking them close to my body. 

“
Why do you have wings, Momma?”  Eve reached up to touch them, and I shot Adam a helpless look.

“That’s a complicated question.”

“She’s part angel, squirt,” Adam replied glibly.  “You are too.”

“Oh,” Evie nodded, one of my feathers between her fingers.  “They’re pretty.”

Apparently not all that complicated.  Eve accepted his word at face value without argument.  Then again, she’d seen things most little girls weren’t privy to.  I suppose it was easier for her to accept that fact that her mom and “Uncle Adam” were both angelic while standing in a level of Hell.

“Thanks, sweetie,” I smiled when it became apparent that she didn’t have a problem with it. 

“Does that mean I have wings too?”

“I don’t know, maybe someday you will, but we’re not going to experiment with that here, okay?”  I picked up her hand again.  “Now try not to talk, we’re going have to be super quiet while we sneak out of here.”  The windows in her room were too small for us to squeeze through, so we’d have to creep lower through the tower.   

“Yeah, it’s time for the quiet game,” Adam winked, keeping his voice light.  “And trust me, you don’t want to lose this game.”

Chapter Fourteen

For once, luck was on our side.  We didn’t run into a single soul out in the hallway and the stairs were deserted.  Unfortunately the windows three levels down weren’t the kind that opened, and we were going to make one hell of a racket busting them open.  We held a whispered debate over whether or not it was more dangerous to continue down to the base of the tower or to risk attracting attention by breaking the window out.  The decision was taken out of our hands by the sound of voices on the stairs below.